Army missile defense systems Patriot and THAAD talk in test

A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or (THAAD) weapon system assigned to Task Force Talon, 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Oct. 26, 2017. (Photo by Capt. Adan Cazarez/IU.S. Army)

Both THAAD and Patriot picked up a live short-range Lynx missile target suing their radars and tracked the target individually, but both systems “exchanged messages through tactical data links and verified interoperability between the weapons systems,” according to an MDA statement.

No live interceptors were launched.

“These two weapon systems are vitally important as components of our layered ballistic missile defense system and it is critical that they are able to transmit data and communicate with one another,” MDA Director Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves said in the statement.

The test supported the materiel release of the THAAD 3.0 software upgrades and meets requirements laid out in the FY16 National Defense Authorization Act for the MDA and Army to annually test interoperability and integration of THAAD and Patriot, the statement notes.

Driving the effort are the forces in South Korea where both THAAD and Patriot are deployed. THAAD is also deployed in Guam, while Patriot units are spread wider around the world. Patriot deployments are considered to be among the most taxing and lengthy ones in the Army.

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Jen Judson is the land warfare reporter for Defense News. She has covered defense in the Washington area for over six years. She was previously a reporter at Politico Pro Defense and InsideDefense.com.